Events Archive

Perinatal Mortality Study Day February 7th 2014

The National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre (NPEC) hosted a Perinatal Mortality Study Day on February 7, 2014 in the Mullingar Park Hotel,Co. Westmeath to stimulate discussion on perinatal mortality in Ireland. The event was well attended with 150 multidisciplinary delegates from across the country.

The presentations given were informative and gave rise to constructive discussions. For further information please contact Leanne O'Connor leanne.oconnor@ucc.ie

Vaginal Birth After Caesarean Section (VBAC) Study Day

The NPEC hosted a study day on Vaginal Birth after Caesarean Section (VBAC) in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin on 20th January 2012. A total of 200 clinical and administrative staff, representing all of Irelands' maternity units, were in attendance.

Caesarean Section Study Day, 21st January 2011

A study day on Caesarean Section was hosted by NPEC in the Brookfield Health Sciences Complex of University College Cork on 21st January 2011. Attendees included midwifes, obstetricians, gynaecologists, neonatologists and managers from all of Irelands' maternity units.

Perinatal Mortality Information Day, 11th November 2010

An information day on Perinatal Mortality was held in the Aisling Hotel, Dublin on 11th November 2010, for clinicians and administrative staff involved in the NPEC perinatal death notification process.

Click to download the list of speakers / programme of events for the day. For copies of the presentations, please contact Ms. Edel Manning at E.Manning@ucc.ie.

Vermont Oxford Network Study Day, 24th June 2010

The NPEC hosted a VON study day in the Cork University Maternity Hospital on 24th June 2010 to stimulate discussion on how best to use VON data in the Irish context improve our current knowledge regarding care for very low birth weight infants in Ireland.

For copies of the presentations, please contact Ms Leanne O'Connor at leanne.oconnor@ucc.ie

WHO publishes statement on the rates of caesarean section

WHO publishes statement on the rates of caesarean section, and proposes use of Robson classification systemWHO’s statement illustrates how important it is to ensure caesarean section are provided to the women in need – and not just focus on achieving any specific rate.Dr Marleen Temmerman, Director of WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research including HRP

Since 1985, the international healthcare community has considered the ideal rate for caesarean sections to be between 10-15%. Since then, caesarean sections have become increasingly common in both developed and developing countries. The WHO statement published today says that when caesarean section rates rise towards 10% across a population, the number of maternal and newborn deaths decreases.

Perinatal Mortality in Ireland Annual Report 2014

This is the fourth report of the national clinical audit on perinatal mortality in Ireland using the NPEC data collection tool and classification system. Anonymised data were reported by the 20 Irish maternity units on a total of 504 perinatal deaths occurring in 2014 arising from 67,663 births of at least 500g birthweight or at least 24 weeks gestation. Stillbirths, early neonatal and late neonatal deaths accounted for 330 (65.5%), 141 (28.0%) and 33 (6.5%) of the 504 deaths, respectively.

The perinatal mortality rate was 7.0 deaths per 1,000 births; corrected for congenital malformation, the rate was 4.7 per 1,000 births; the stillbirth rate was 4.9 per 1,000 births; and, the early neonatal death rate was 2.1 per 1,000 live births.

Severe Maternal Morbidity in Ireland Annual Report 2014

This is the third report from the national audit of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in Ireland. It reports on 365 cases of SMM that occurred in 18 of the 19 Irish maternity units in 2014. It also reports on findings from the first national audit of critical care in obstetrics in Ireland. Fifteen of the 19 Irish maternity units contributed to the critical care in obstetric audit in 2014, including two large tertiary referral maternity units and thirteen smaller maternity units.

In 2014, the eighteen participating maternity units reported that 365 women experienced SMM, as defined in this audit, constituting a rate of 5.93 per 1,000 maternities.

From 2011 to 2014, the SMM rate varied from 3.83 to 5.93 per 1,000 maternities or from one in 260 maternities to one in 170 maternities. Respectively, the SMM rate was 16%, 24% and 55% higher in 2012, 2013 and 2014 than in the base year 2011.

Publication

International Stillbirth Alliance Annual Conference

‌The International Stillbirth Alliance Annual Conference will be held in Cork, Ireland from 22-­‐24th September 2017 at the University College Cork campus. The Conference will take place over two days, Saturday and Sunday, with a mixture of plenary and concurrent sessions from invited speakers and selected presentations from conference abstracts. Pre-conference, an IMPROVE workshop will be held on Friday 22nd September (https://sanda.psanz.com.au/clinical-­‐practice/improve/). The call for abstract submissions will go live in January 2017. A lively social programme is planned to integrate with the Conference. For further information please see http://www.isacork2017.com/ and follow the Conference on Twitter @isacork2017. We look forward to your continued support and hope you will be able to attend.

Planned Home Births in Ireland Annual Report 2014

The Planned Home Births in Ireland Annual Report 2014 report published by the Health Service Executive in collaboration with the National Perintal Epidemiology Centre is to present an overview and national statistics on the home births service provided by SECMs in the Republic of Ireland for the year 2014. The report audits the home birth service by examining both the maternal and fetal outcomes of planned home births, including outcomes whereby the care of the woman is transferred for hospital care antenatally, during labour or postnatally.

Very Low Birth Weight Infants in the Republic of Ireland Annual Report 2015

The Very Low Birth Weight Infants in the Republic of Ireland Annual Report 2015 has been published by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre in association with the NICORE (Neonatal Intensive Care Outcomes Research and Evaluation) Group. This is the second annual national report focusing on infants born ≤1500g and/or ≤29 weeks gestation in the Republic of Ireland. It presents outcomes of all very low birth weight (VLBW) infants born in in 2015 and compares them to those of infants born in 2014, the first year for which a complete national dataset on VLBW infants is available.

Perinatal Mortality in Ireland Annual Report 2015

This is the fifth report of the national clinical audit on perinatal mortality in Ireland using the NPEC data collection tool and classification system. Anonymised data were reported by the 19 Irish maternity units on a total of 488 deaths arising from 65,904 births that occurred in 2015, of at least 500g birthweight and/or at least 24 weeks gestation. Stillbirths, early neonatal and late neonatal deaths accounted for 294 (60.2%), 166 (34.0%) and 28 (5.7%) of the 488 deaths, respectively.